Oderus Urungus of GWAR Says the Presidential Election Should Be Decided With Gladiatorial Combat

By: Alex Distefano

It has been nearly 30 Earth years since the infamous, killer mutant heavy metal space creatures known as GWAR first visited this planet. Anyone who has ever had blood and entrails splattered on them at one of their shows knows that life on this planet has
never been the same since.

With their extraterrestrial, punk, thrash metal assault, musically the
Scumdogs in GWAR have faced numerous line up changes, consisting of various non-
human entities, monsters, on stage executioners and slaves. The musical component
of GWAR features lead throat Oderus Urungus, drummer Jizmack Da Gusha, bassist
Beefcake the Mighty, guitarist Balsac the Jaws of Death and the newest guitarist
Pustulus Maximus, who replaces the fallen heavy metal warrior, the late Flattus
Maximus, who died in 2011, in the band's first Intergalactic tragedy since being
banished to Earth millions of eons ago.

Recently, Oderus took time to speak to the Weekly about the band's up
coming stint around the country (they play Saturday at the Observatory in Santa Ana) for the The Fate of Chaos Tour, their new guitarist, the wonders of bath salts and GWAR's unique perspective on
the upcoming U.S. Presidential election.

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OC Weekly (Alex Distefano): Tell us about the 'Fate of Chaos' tour, and the opening
acts you have this time around.

Oderus Urungus: We have Legacy of Disorder, a very cool, powerful band; they
drove themselves in an RV over the Pacific Ocean just to be a part of this tour.
Cancerbats is a great punk band out of Canada that I never get to see since I am
always on tour. And of course, our friends in Devildriver. I know it's hard to imagine
a band like GWAR can make friends, but it does happen on occasion.

OC Weekly: Tell us more about the new guitar player, Pustulus Maxims.

He's a disgusting creature. He's kind of like Flattus, just on
steroids, kind of like a John Belushi version. We summoned all the hatred in the
Universe and Pustulus was the last guy to show up with his incredible guitar skills.
He was actually born with a guitar in his hand, which resulted in the death of his
mother, who he devoured immediately. We're all excited that he's staying with us
here on Earth. It's been a difficult year for GWAR, we've lost one of our Scumdog
brothers, did the appropriate mourning rituals and now we're finally in the place
where we can resume our savage two-guitar attack like. All is well in the GWAR
universe.

With the U.S. Presidential Election just under a week away now, tell me
your opinions on the candidates, or the election in general. Does GWAR support
either candidate? Are you allowed to vote, considering the fact you are non-human.
Also, will GWAR's live show have a political theme this time around, in honor of the
election?

I don't know if I want to vote. But I will vote, with my bronze
sword. I can tell you that both candidates will be put to death at our show, and we
will sew them into one that has the worst policies of both. Where we come from,
there is no voting. We settle all of our differences with gladiatorial combat. I am
not really backing this whole political process. The only reason we have politicians
on our planet, is so they can be crucified. Everything is solved through wars. No
debates, no campaigns, no stickers no ballot boxes, and no White House. And the
only poll is a huge long pole made of scalding hot red iron.
[

Has GWAR ever been in any legal trouble, or been visited by the Secret
Service for these 'executions' on stage?'

Absolutely not. They are way too concerned with overseas wars
to worry about us. They have the policy to let GWAR do its business. Plus it's not a
big deal to them, since we use only medieval weapons. I think they think if they just
ignore us we will go away, but we are not going anywhere.

Have you heard of Bath Salts?

Yes I have heard of Bath Salts. As much as they are fun, I'll have to
stick with crack. Bath Salts tend to make me grumpy. My doctor told me that there
are already too much salts in my diet. I don't need Bath Salts to chew up a guy's face.
I can do that all on my own thank you very much.


What is the deal with all the recent news stories involving Cannibalism?
What are your thoughts?

There shouldn't be anything inherently wrong with it. Think about
all the food that's being wasted by dumping all these bodies in the ground. Steak
prices are at an all time high, and the human race would embrace cannibalism, I am
sure we could solve the hunger problem in a week or two. No baby would go to bed
without its supper, put it that way.


Finally, what are the plans for GWAR after this tour, which ends in late
November?

Well after this tour is done, we are off to record a new album,
which will be out sometime in 2013. We are glad to be back on the road again, as I
said it was not an easy year for us Scumdogs, but we're back where we belong. We
hope to see all of our filthy human fans this time around!

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